On Golden Pond' Is Tragedy Played With A Lighter Touch Theater Review

June 01, 1985|by JOHN FLAUTZ, The Morning Call

"On Golden Pond" sails close to tragedy. The story of a man on the last, slow slide to extinction, whose life as husband and father, in retrospect, falls well short of exemplary success, it has more in common with "Death of a Salesman" than with "Life with Father."

But it can be played light and lively, and that's how Shepherd Hills Dinner Theatre has staged it. A top flight cast keeps playwright Ernest Thompson's witty dialogue crackling, and if the players seem to brush past some of the poignant moments, it's only to hurry back to the abundant sly humor.

George Wilcox turns Norman Thayer into an amusingly ornery old coot whose only tragedy is that a lifelong put-on artist can't convince anyone, at the end, that he's genuinely sick, scared and sorry. Thayer is a regular card, but a bit of a pain, too. His favorite joke is to take small talk literally. Wilcox's remarkable physical resemblance to the late, great Joe E. Brown does no harm to his comic delivery.

Lois Miller plays his not-quite-infinitely patient wife of nearly 40 years. She understands him and takes his faults with his virtues, but even she obviously wishes it were easier to guess when he's serious. She's a strong and sympathetic straight woman to Wilcox's sardonic comedian.

As their daughter who has never, in 36 years, been able to approach her father, JoAnn Wilchek is wary and suspicious. Her reconciliation scene with Wilcox is touching precisely because it dramatizes the effort required to unblock shielded emotions, but it isn't played for sniffles.

Barry Glassman has a fine scene as her latest love interest, a Californian who's a decent fellow even if he does talk about "personal space" and "mores." He's been primed to meet her family and he's pretty sure that Easterners are insane anyway.It's a delight to watch him try to decide, first, whether Thayer is jerking him around, and then just how much.

John Becker is the 13-year-old the couple leaves with the old folks for a summer on Golden Pond. He more than holds his own with the adult cast. K. Robert Binder is a fine local color down-easter whose sturdily unchanging doltishness makes change and even decay look good after a while.

Odd though it may sound, the set, designed by Ken Frack and dressed by Claire Coogan Stribula, looks too good. The cottage on Golden Pond ought to be a dustbin of memorabilia, but everything in it from Thayer's hats to the books on the shelves is crisp and spotless. That's my only quibble. David Czarnecki directed and Scott A. Werner designed lighting, and all have contributed to a rib tickling and sometimes heartwarming show.